Container



C.'H. KORE.

CONTAINER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV= I9, IQIB. 1 ,317? 695 Patented May 10, 1921.

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A TTOR/VE S C. H. KORS.

CONTAINER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV: I9! ISIS,

Patented May III, 1923;.

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CONTAINER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19. I918.

swms P nt d May 10,1921.

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A TTOH/VE 8 UNlTED STATEd CHARLES H. KOBS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONTAINER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 10, 1921.

Application filed November 19, 1918. Serial No. 263,136.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES H. Kons, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Containers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a new and improved normally closed container for stock to be used, being more particularly intended as a container for filler tobacco used in the manufacture of cigars and has for its object to produce a container adapted to supply material to be removed through an opening at the top of one of the side-walls of the container.

It further has for its object to produce a container having adjacent thereto a support or table, having an opening above said support but having the greater portion of the container below the level of the top of such support or table so as not to constitute an obstruction.

It further has for its object to provide a container having a movable platform such that, as the stock is withdrawn from the top portion thereof, the remaining stock can be lifted so as to have its level kept at approximately the same point in the container.

It further has for its object to produce a container having an easily opened and automatic closer.

It further has for its object to produce a container having a platform which can be raised and lowered and provided with means for separating the interior of the container into a plurality of compartments having proportions corresponding to the ratio of the desired mixture.

It further has for its object to provide a container. and means for conveniently filling the compartments therein.

The advantages of a closed container for holding filler tobacco are set out in my Patent No. 1,232,935, granted July 10, 1917. My present container is an improvement on what is shown inisaid patent because it attains the above objects.

The following is a description of an embodiment of my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 shows an .end elevation of a container embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 shows a front elevation of the same with the housing for the operating shaft removed;

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line 3-3, Fig. 2; I

Fig. 4: is a vertical section on the line 4+4, Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detail of a protector to be used during the filling operation of the compartments of the container;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the body of the container with the cover removed;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of the container on the line 77, Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a transfer box for introducing a new supply of material into a compartment of the container;

Fig. 9 shows a partial section of the container and a section of said transfer box as the same are related when a compartment of a container is being replenished with stock.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 is the body portion of the container, consisting of an upright four-sided box closed at its bottom so as to constitute a re ceptacle and having a slide 2 adapted to contain a moistenin pad 3 for the purpose of moistening the atmosphere of the interior thereof when the container is used for filler tobacco. As shown the container rests on the floor. Within the main portion 1 is a movable platform preferably of wire fabric so as to permit moisture to pass upward from the pad 3. This movable platform has aframe 5 provided at its corners with extensions 6, moving in slots in the end pieces of the main portion and to which cables 7 are connected, the upper ends of said cables being connected to shafts 8, upon which they are wound when the shafts are revolved. These shafts are in recesses covered by a plate 8 and are provided with beveled gears 9 meshing with beveled gears 10 on a shaft 11, which is covered with a housing 11', and provided with an actuating hand-wheel 12 and a ratchet 13, which is engaged by a holding pawl 14 mounted upon the main body portion of the box. The shaft'll is also provided with a beveled gear 15, which meshes witha beveled gear 16 on a shaft 17, to which is connected the upper end of a curtain 18, whose lower end is connected to the movable platform so as to separate the interior of the main body 23. This lever 21 is retracted by a spring 24. The pawl 23 engages a ratchet 25, securely fixed to the shaft 22, which ratchet wheel drives a sprocket wheel 26 rigidly fixed to said shaft. The sprocket wheel 26 is connected by a sprocket chain 27 to a sprocket wheel 28 rigidly mounted upon the shaft 11, so that the actuating movement of the pedal 19 is thereby conveyed to the shaft 11 so as to actuate the shafts 8 and 17 The pawl 14 actuates to hold the platform in its elevated position whether the same be lifted by the hand-wheel 12 or by the pedal 19. i

. The upper end of the main portion 1 is provided with cleats 29 on which rests a re movable cover 30, the same consisting of a frame having an opening on two adjacent sides above the main body portion 1, which opening is closed by an automatically acting door or closure consisting of a front portion 31 hinged at its upper edge, as shown at 31' and normally tending to automatically move downward to a closed position, as shown in full lines in Figs. 1, and

2. To this portion 31 is connected a rearwardly extending-portion 32 which, when the portion 31 is in vertical position, closes the portion of the opening which lies on one end of the cover 30. It also tends to keep the door closed, acting as a closing weight. This rearward extension is also provided with a flange 33 (Fig. 4), which, when the closure is in closed position, rests upon the adjacent portion of the roof 34 of the cover so as to practically prevent the free circulation of air at that point. The purpose of cutting away the end portion of the cover, which is closed by the portion 32 of the closure, is to enable the convenient operation of the closure. Thus, the container as shown is supposed to stand at the right-hand end of a cigarmakers table or support 35 (Fig. 1). The cigarmaker sitting before his table by reaching to the right brings his hand in contact with the front face 31 of the closure and moves the closure inward so asto open it, his wrist or arm extending through the cutaway portion closed by the part 32. He is thus enabled to hold the closure open by the back of his hand while he extracts filler with either or both hands and partially manipulates the same before bringing it to the table 35. As he brings it to the table 35 the automatically operated closure closes so that the container is kept closed against the action of the atmosphere and against the dust in the air, except during the short period necessary for the removal of the filler.

The portion 32 of the closure, when the closure is in closed position, extends below the lower edge of the cover 30 and a slot or recess 36 is provided in the main body por-. tion for the reception of the lower part of the portion 32 when the closure is in closed position. The roof of the cover is provided with an opening, whose lower face is covered with woven fabric 38 and whose open face is closed by a door 39, the space between the fabric and the door being filled, when desired, with a moistening pad 40. The door 39 is held closed by a fastening device 41.

The main body portion of the container is removably secured to the platform 20 by angle-irons 42. The pedal 19 being mounted upon the supplemental base 20, the installation of the box requires merely the securing of the base 20 to the floor in proper position, the securing of the angle-irons 42 and the connection of the pedal 19 with the lever 21.

At the time of filling the box the curtain 18 is protected by a sliding cover 43, consisting of two stiff portions 43 secured at their upper ends to a block, shown in Fig. 5.

For the purpose of filling the container,

I provide transfer boxes, each having a body portion 44, there being one box adapted to cover the larger compartment of the container and a similar box adapted to cover the smaller compartment of the container. These boxes are provided with longitudinally movable bottoms 45, which are adapted to rest against a flange 46 secured to the bottom of the box. The top of the box is provided with an inwardly extending flange member 47 which holds in place a slide 48 constituting a closure for the transfer box. In using this box it is filled at the stockroom and, with the slide 48 closed,superimposed upside down over its respective compartment, whereupon the slide 48 is pulled outward, as shown in Fig. 9 and the bottom 9 pressed downward to force the contents of the box into the compartment lying beneath. In this way a container can be conveniently filled with tobacco without loss or damage to the stock. v In using my container it is preferably placed at the right-hand end of the workers table, as above stated, and the stock is removed as desired from the upper portion thereof through the opening provided by the retraction of the automatically operated closure. It may, however, be placed at the rear of the workers table, in which case the end of the cover need not be cut away and the extension 32 may be omitted.

The curtain 18 is placed so as to divide the interior of the container into compartments having the proportions which should be maintained in the mixture of which the cigars are to be made. This curtain therefore acts as a means for determining the correct proportions of tobacco used, since the cigarmaker will automatically use the two kinds of tobacco at such a rate as to maintain the level in both compartments approximately equal, that condition being necessary when the platform is raised. As the level of the tobacco is reduced by the removal of stock so as to make it difiicult for the operator to remove the tobacco, he actuates the shaft 11 either by hand or by foot so as to raise the stock within the container and bring its surface to the desired level.

One of the great advantages of this container is that it enables the tobacco to be removed from the top of the container as distinguished from the bottom thereof, that being easier and resulting in maintaining the tobacco as a whole in better condition; it also makes it unnecessary to have a large container extending for a considerable distance above the operators table.

' As will be evident to those skilled in the art, my invention permits of various modifications without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a container, the combination of a receptacle, a vertically movable platform therein for supporting the contents of said receptacle, and means for elevating said platform, said receptacle having an opening at its upper end and automatically operating closing means for said opening, and a curtain within said receptacle extending downwardly toward said platform and dividing the receptacle into compartments, and means for taking up said curtain as said platform rises, said opening extending to both of said compartments.

2. In a container, the combination of a receptacle provided with an opening extending into two adjacent sides, a closure for a portion of said opening in one of said sides hinged at its upper edge, and means actuated by said closure for closing the portion of the opening in the other side, said closure tending to move downward to closed position.

3. In a container, the combination of a receptacle provided near its top with an opening at the upper portion of two of its sides, a closure for said opening having an inwardly opening portion hinged at its upper edge so as to close the portion of the opening lying in one of said two sides and having a portion lying in a plane substantially at right angles to the axis of rotation of said first portion and closing the portion of the opening lying in the other of said two sides, said closure tending to move downward to closed position.

4:. In a container, the combination of a receptacle, a vertically movable platform therein for supporting the contents of said receptacle, and means for elevating said platform, said receptacle having an opening at its upper end and normally closed, automatically operating closing means for said opening, said elevating means comprising a shaft mechanically connected to the two ends of said platform, and foot operated means for rotating said shaft to raise said platform.

CHARLES H. KORS. 

